Teaching You The Ropes
by clarielparke
Summary: Written for the Lemons On Demand Series. Based on a prompt by Seyaryminamoto. In which Sokka finds himself in a dark nightly forest, guarding a tied up Azula by a campfire. Character age: Azula 19, Sokka 21. The events take place post S&S.


The campfire sparkled bright gold, orange and yellow in the dusk. So did the eyes of the prisoner as she regarded him across the flames. Looking up from his task of cutting grilled meat into morsel sized chunks, Sokka started slightly.

 _Shit._

She was struggling to sit up.

Leaving supper unattended for potential wild beast scavengers, he hurried over to her side.

"No! You just stay put right there, Azula! Don't move. I'll feed you if you like."

A sneer. "Oh really? First you pay my partner to double-cross me, and now you're promising to feed me like a baby? Why, humiliation knows no end!"

Slinging an arm around her back, he assisted her nimbly in getting vertical. A quick look and a tentative tug at the ropes securing her slender wrists and arms behind her back revealed that her restraints were still intact. He congratulated himself briefly on choosing the flameproof type of rope, despite the astronomical price.

"Come on, Azula! I'm only doing my job here. Zuko sent me out to bring you back to Court, no matter what. It's not my fault that you refused to come along. Now, let's get something to eat, shall we? You must be starving."

The red lips pouted. "Speak for yourself, peasant! Knockout sleeping potions aren't that great as appetizers. By the way, I'm curious. How much did you pay June to drug and trick me?"

Sokka reached out to move the wooden platter over to their side of the campfire. His left arm was tightly plastered across Azula's back, his hand locked on the ropes tying her wrists together.

"20 000 bao. Zuko told me to spare no expenses."

Azula snickered. "Oh? Why Zuzu must be really desperate to prevent people from finding out that the Fire Nation Princess is currently earning her keep as a bounty hunter. Well, it was fun while it lasted. I can't wait to see what Zuzu has in store for me once we get back. Maybe he's got me a nice position as Mother's lady in waiting, huh? Or as a firebending teacher to Kiyi? Oh, joy. I seriously can't wait."

The skin of her bare arms was pale and smooth and surprisingly warm to the touch. In contrast, the sharp caped collar of her tight black leather vest threatened to poke his eyes out at any moment. When she looked away briefly, impossibly long black eyelashes shaded her pale cheeks. Sokka stared down at his captive distractedly. Suddenly at a loss for words, he offered her a chunk of meat impaled on his hunting knife. The smell that wafted up towards his nostrils was truly delicious.

"Here, Azula. It's better to eat. You must be feeling dizzy after being drugged by that sleeping potion. I'm sorry, ok? It was the only way that I could manage to get hold of you."

She shot him a long meaningful gold stare. "Ever try talking to people, Sokka? It can work miracles. Besides, I don't bite."

She bobbed her head down to catch the spicy piece of meat between white teeth. Sokka drew his breath.

"More."

The imperious order of a Princess. Well technically speaking she still was one, although absconded into exile, something that reflected pretty badly on the Fire Nation and its ruler. Which was why Zuko had asked his old friend for this dreaded favour in the first place.

 _Find my sister, Sokka! Return her to Court. I want you to leave no stone unturned._

If there had been a slight touch of desperation to the Fire Lord's voice, Sokka had decided to ignore the significance of it. After all, if positions had been reversed, he certainly wouldn't have wanted Katara to roam the Four Nations earning her keep as a rogue bounty hunter.

"More."

Still with an arm slung around Azula, holding her slender form close, he kept feeding her bite sized chunks of grilled meat, once in a while even managing to pop one or two of them into his own mouth.

"Enough. I'm thirsty."

She stated the order imperiously, staring out into the dark woods and ignoring him. Forced to let go of her tied wrists, Sokka moved over to search his pack of belongings. Failing to locate the flask of water, his hand came up with something else. A bottle of rice wine. Oh shit. An emergency utensil, packed by Zuko's solicitous servants. Searching desperately for water, he came up with nothing. He could hear Azula moving next to him.

"Ok! Found it!" He shot her a falsely cheerful smile. If that had been a grin on her face, it faded in a millisecond into bored indifference.

"Whatever. Some water will do."

Wrists tied behind her back, she leaned her head back and opened her mouth expectantly. The light from the fire flickered over her long neck and generously exposed cleavage. Sokka felt himself blushing.

"It's… it isn't water. I tried to find it. I hope rice wine is ok."

He felt momentarily tempted to down the bottle to fortify himself. With iron discipline, he leaned forward to place the tip of it at her full red lips. Her eyes were half closed, and those lashes…

She took a couple of long gulps. Then a couple of more ones. The bright amber eyes flew open to reflect the fire.

"Hm? Rice wine? Why, Zuzu must be getting generous in his old age. By all means, go ahead and taste it. I assume this kind of job doesn't come with many privileges."

Sokka stopped on the way to an energizing sip of the strong liquid and stared at her indignantly.

" _What!?_ Azula, I'll have you know I'm doing this as a personal favour to Zuz… Zuko. He isn't paying me."

A wry smirk as she shifted her long leather clad legs slightly. "Oh? You mean he's too cheap to even pay you? Why you poor peasant! You certainly got the short end of the stick!"

Sokka gulped down the rice wine angrily. To be fair, she hadn't even attempted to attack him. In fact, she was just sitting there with that ridiculously royal posture, long legs slung out before her and slightly curled. Long legs-

 _Oh shit!_

He bounded to his feet and pointed Space Sword at her with an (almost) steady hand.

"How the fuck did you manage to free your legs, Azula!? I tied them up myself!"

The smile turned into one of genuine amusement. A shrug with a bare pale shoulder. "The ropes? Oh, I got rid of them. They were getting my pants all creased up."

Sokka's blue eyes widened. Yes, there it was. The evidence. The strong flameproof ropes with the tightest, most secure knots that the Four Nation could provide. His mind boggled at the sight. Conscious only of the possibility of getting attacked at any moment, he flung himself on top of her and buried one hand in her black topknot. The other one aimed the sword at her bared throat.

"Azula! I swear, if you attempt to break free, I will…"

She leaned back lazily in his grasp. "Yes, Sokka? You will do what, exactly? Slice my head off? Oh, I'm sure Zuzu will be greatly pleased with how you handled the assignment."

Straddling her slim leather clad hips, Sokka stared down at her in frustration.

"No! No, Azula! I won't stoop to your level. I'll… I'll…"

He hurled Space Sword away angrily. Azula's winged eyebrows went up in surprise. In the firelight, her eyes were huge, bright yellow. Underneath the tight leather top, something she must undoubtedly have picked under the influence of her former bounty hunter master, her chest was heaving. The full red lips were half open. The-

Sokka's lips came down on hers. His tongue snaked in to claim her mouth. To be honest, he had no idea what he was doing, or even why. He just knew he had to stop her from escaping. Suddenly, this seemed like a brilliant idea.

His tongue encountered hers. There was no fire breathing, like he'd half expected. Instead, her lips met his, ever so soft and sweet. Her tongue twirled teasingly with his. The taste of rice wine permeated his mind. The taste of rice wine and Azula. Mm.

A tiny sigh as he devoured her mouth greedily. Her long legs went up to twine around his waist and pull him close. Sokka's mind had shut itself off from registering any markers of danger. All he could sense was the blood pounding in his veins and his intense arousal, unexpectedly caused by being in the vicinity of….

"Mm, Sokka…" Azula twisted underneath him.

"You taste really good." He kept holding her torso with his lower arm slung around her hips in order to spare her further discomfort. An accidental downward look caught firmly at….

Oh. His eyes widened at the look of her cleavage, liberally exposed by the black leather vest. Firm pale mounds strained at the black garment as if threatening to burst out. Five years had certainly caused a significant development in the Fire Nation princess.

Sokka kissed her again, plunging his tongue into her mouth. Caught up in a sense of unreality, he put all his energy into the kiss. His cock expanded further to rub heatedly at Azula's female opening through the tight black leather trousers. Those trousers were of course another sign of June's influence. Great looking, but also hugely in the way under the current circumstances.

Azula gave a tiny sigh, responding to his kiss. Maybe the fact that there was no resistance whatsoever should have made him wary. Pressing his hardon against her crotch, holding her tightly clutched against him, Sokka slid his other hand up over the soft smooth black leather to undo the front opening of the tight vest. Smooth creamy globes popped out, shocking him with their beauty. Hoisting her hips up, he kissed a hot trail down her long neck, fondling her breasts with a big calloused hand. Soft creamy flesh, rosy nipples that he longed to pinch and twirl. Cupping a breast in his hand, he looked down at her.

Azula's eyes were half closed, eyelashes shading her smooth cheeks. Her lips, reddened by kisses, were half open. As she sensed his hesitation, the eyelids flew up. Gold fire ignited into his mind.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Aren't these big enough for you, peasant? Are you comparing me to your ex girlfriend? Or maybe to Ty Lee, that traitorous bitch? You do know that she used to have a thing for you, right?"

The viciousness of her tone made Sokka flinch. Then again, her response to his kiss had been hot enough. So… Could it possibly be she had some kind of weakness for him? His entire being ached to release her from the ropes in order to find out. Instead, he cupped her lovely breasts in his hands and grinned, flicking the nipples into erectness with his thumbs.

"On the contrary, Azula. You're very beautiful. Much more so than…" His dusky skin tone masked the blush. "…any other female that I've ever encountered."

She gave a tiny sigh and closed her eyes. "Well then, snow savage. You may proceed."

Sokka frowned. _You may proceed?_ Proceed to do just what, exactly?

Azula was still tied up and locked in his arms, bare torso exposed to the balmy night air and his eyes. Going by instinct, he kissed a hot trail down her chest until he ended up at those firmly rounded globes. With a frown of concentration, he leaned over her to suck and nibble at one rosy nipple while fondling and playing with her other breast. The response was a sigh of contentment and hips raised to grind and move against him. Lost in the moment, he cupped her delicious breasts in his hands and kept kissing her erect nipples, alternating between them while teasing and twirling the other with his fingers. His hardon was making its presence uncomfortably known, threatening to splice right though his trousers. Azula was moaning, low and throaty, twisting in his arms. The firelight played over her bare skin, gilding it.

Panting, Sokka came up for air. He needed to… But no. Decidedly no. What the fuck had gotten into him? Shuddering at the thought of the Fire Lord's reaction if he would ever find out that his friend had spent the assignment making out with his troublesome sister, he came to a decision. Fuck Zuko. This was between Azula and himself.

Large golden eyes stared up at him, challengingly. She made no attempt to cover herself. Not that she could, with her arms securely tied behind her back in the special knots that master Piandao had taught him.

"Well, Sokka? Had enough of feasting off me? Why, I kept hearing that you had a taste for meat. Now I finally realize what those gossips meant. For a moment there, I thought it meant that you were into boys."

Sokka started. Even at a moment like this, when he'd caused her to moan quite audibly with pleasure and her pulse to quicken, she would taunt him? But of course. This was Azula, after all.

His voice sounded hoarse, alien. "No, Azula. I have a taste for girls. Princesses in particular. "

Her large yellow eyes widened significantly. "Sokka! What are you…"

He leaned back to grab one long leg and pull off her leather boot to hurl it away. The other one quickly followed suit. A cheeky grin as his blue gaze flashed into hers.

"I'm about to have my feast, Princess!" Cupping her breasts in his hands, he resumed tweaking and teasing her erect nipples. Kissing a trail down the soft silky skin of her belly, he was vaguely aware of Azula struggling to stifle gasps and moans, twisting in his arms. Still, there was no real attempt to break free. He interpreted that as a "yes".

Releasing her breasts reluctantly, he opened the tight black leather trousers and pulled them down. Yes. She was aiding him, raised up on her elbows, arms still tied behind her back and regarding him with a curious expression. With a final tug, Sokka pulled the trousers off. The sight of her nude body took his breath away.

"Oh. You're beautiful." There was some awe in his voice as he took in the sight.

A sneer. "Yes. Of course I am. Now what? You defile me in every way imaginable? All right. Take your chance. I assure you that you'll never get another one. Zuzu will make sure of that."

 _But you're ok with it?_

He frowned. "I don't care one bit about Zuko, Azula! All that I care about is you. What you want and don't want me to do, I mean."

She stared at him intently, expressionlessly. Then, she gave a brisk nod and settled back, spreading her legs on either side of him.

"All right, snow savage. That sounds fair. This might be the last chance for some fun that I will ever get before being condemned to life as Kiyi's spinster nanny. I never imagined that my last shot at pleasure would be with a Water Tribesman. Oh, the fucking irony of it! But by all means. Hit me with your best shot."

Sokka's blue eyes narrowed. "You know I'm really not…" No. Better to show her in action what he meant. Resuming the kissing down her taut flat belly, he reached up to cup and caress her breasts. A tiny sigh told him that he was on the right track. Kissing his way deliberately downwards, he moved down between her legs and took her hips in a firm grasp. The sight made his blue eyes bulge momentarily.

"Oh. Wow." He trailed his fingertips softly over the perfectly groomed black fire trident of her pubic hair.

"Entering the Fire Nation, am I?"

He grinned up at Azula, spreading her legs to get a good look at the pink delicious moistness of her sex. Kicking out at him, she swiped him with a blue flame from her left foot before he managed to lock her legs over his shoulders.

"Just shut up and do your stuff, ok? By the way, this would be a good time to untie me. My hands are turning numb."

Another grin as he caressed her hips and inched forward, cupping her buttocks like bowls of fruit. "Don't think so, Princess! I don't want to risk having you firebend at me while I'm in a … vulnerable position:"

Azula leaned back to stare up into the starry sky. "You mean you get off on my being helpless, don't you Sokka? Spirits! Who'd have known you were a bloody pervert? Who'd have… Oh!"

He smiled wickedly at her and stroked her long smooth thighs, making sure that they were securely anchored over his shoulders. Gazing in delight at her moist pink pussy, spread wide open before his hungry eyes, he noticed that the clit was pert and swollen and the entrance invitingly wet. Willing himself to patience, he grasped her thighs, moving forward. As his long tongue snaked up her sex, Azula gasped and twisted before him. Hardening his tongue, Sokka started pushing it in and out of her cunt as far as it would go. At the same time, he sucked her clit and labia, running his lips all over them. Mm, he really loved the taste of her. Just salty enough, with a light tinge of sweetness. Moving up slightly, he started tonguing her labia up and down. Focusing on her clit, he sucked down hard every time he ran his tongue over it. He was dimly aware of Azula moaning with pleasure. He certainly noticed her trying to move her hips to rub her sex against his tongue. Deciding to play things by ear, he thrust two long fingers inside her hot cunt. Moving them in and out, fucking her steadily with them, he kept sliding his wicked tongue over her clit and labia, licking them tenderly, then sucking down hard. He added a third finger for good measure, making her gasp.

The tactic took effect sooner than he had expected. Chest heaving, Azula drew in her breath and moaned loudly, thrashing about and rubbing her sex at his face.

"Ah, ah, ah…"

Surrendering herself to his hot mouth and her own lust, she came, moaning somewhat loudly. Her whole body was shaking, her internal muscles spasming violently around his fingers. Pulling them out of her, Sokka licked them hungrily, tasting every drop of her delicious moisture. Mm, he definitely wanted more. Delving his tongue deep inside of her again, he sucked her forcefully, catching the last spasms of her orgasm and getting ready to bring her to the next. If she thought once was enough, she was quite mistaken.

Sitting up, he lifted the lower part of Azula's body with him. His large hands still held her slim hips firmly clasped, her long legs were still slung over his shoulders. Sucking down hard on her clit, he kept running his wicked tongue over it, stopping only to occasionally slide it into her cunt. Deciding that he wanted to give her a delicious shock, he then pushed one long forefinger up her ass, quite unceremoniously.

"Oh!" Azula gasped, twitching in his hands.

Sokka smiled inwardly. Moving his finger gently, still sucking her clit and lashing it with his tongue, he made her moan and shake. Pleased, he noted that this worked almost too well. Crying out and thrashing in his arms, Azula came again, more violently this time. Sliding his long tongue into her hot juicy pussy, Sokka lecherously sucked up all the delicious moisture. Deciding that this tactic was a winner, he kept fucking her tight ass with his finger and sucking her clit, never letting up on her. Abandoning herself to him, Azula lost track of time as the orgasms kept seizing and shaking her body. Sokka kept sucking and licking her, alternating between fucking her cunt and ass with his fingers. At one point he even started fucking her in both places at the same time, thrusting his index and middle fingers into her cunt and his ring and little fingers into her ass. The orgasm almost made her pass out. When he finally let up on her, she lay limp and panting in his arms, spread open for anything he wanted to do to her.

"You taste so good, I just couldn't stop. I hope you don't mind."

Crouching over her, Sokka grinned, blue eyes heating her nude body. His wolf's tail had come undone, causing his dark hair to spill onto his forehead, down into his eyes. A light shine of perspiration covered Azula's body, making it glisten in the firelight. He ran his hands all over it as if wanting to consume her skin. Trailing his hands down her long slender arms, he reached behind her to find her wrists. Ah there! He fumbled with the ropes, tugging the leather vest off her arms while holding her tightly locked against him. His hardon was throbbing painfully, demanding to be let out.

Azula's topknot had come undone, leaving long black hair to spill out everywhere. Inhaling its scent, he met her bright gold gaze somewhat uncertainly.

"You… You're not mad at me, are you?" Slowly, the realization of what he had done, and more importantly _who_ he had done it to dawned on him. Having successfully loosened and discarded the rope, his hands reached out instinctively to lock her wrists. Or maybe he was just rubbing them to help her get the circulation flowing.

Azula's eyes burned with an otherworldly flame. "No. I'm not mad at you, Sokka. But if you don't finish what you started, I certainly will be."

A brief struggle for control as Sokka fought to remove his boots and pants and tunic while still staying on top so that she couldn't firebend him and make a run for it. He still didn't trust Azula as far as he could throw her. But spirits! He needed to fuck her more badly than any woman that he'd ever met in his entire life. Brief flashes of memories from encountering her as a 14 year old flared before his eyes. _Spirits!_ His reaction to her then had been just the same as now. That full red lipped smirk, that provocative gleam in her golden eyes, the way she spoke his name… He couldn't seriously have had a hardon for her all this time, could he? No, no. That in particular couldn't have been the reason why he'd jumped at the chance to help Zuko out with locating his difficult sister and returning her to Court.

Naked, he pushed her back onto the blanket and locked her wrists above her head with one hand, using the other to wrap the rope around them and tie them up again, careful not to pull the knots too hard. All right, so maybe this was just a token thing, for show. Azula must have realized, because she purred into his ear.

"Afraid to release me, are you? What a pity. These hands are good at a lot of things besides bending."

Her voice sent pleasurable shivers up and down his spine. He stared down at her, unable to turn his gaze away. Then, he slowly slid his large hands up her bare arms to settle at her wrists. Locking them in a firm grasp, he leaned down to kiss those invitingly open lips passionately, ravishing her mouth with his hot questing tongue and branding her full lips with his own hard greedy ones.

The sudden passion shook him like a hurricane, forcing him to release all his pent up feelings and frustration on her. The grasp of his big hands hardened painfully on her slender wrists. His hot mouth bruised hers violently. Trembling with impatience, he shifted his grip on her imprisoned wrists to a one handed lock, sliding the other hand greedily down over her body to feel and fondle her luscious breasts, to pinch and pull her nipples. Spread, completely open and compliant, she was his slave, entirely subjected to his pent up lust that was suddenly bursting out of all controlling dams. He slid an arm underneath her hips and raised her up to him, simultaneously lunging forward violently to take her finally, once and for all. Rock hard, he split her decisively in half, penetrating her to the very core in one hot hard thrust, forcing his throbbing cock as far in as it could go and then beyond it, stretching her to the very limits. Trapped underneath him, with her arms locked over her head, Azula arched up and cried out, a pure animal scream of female lust. Buried deep inside her to the hilt, Sokka stared down at his vanquished foe as if through a blood red mist. And then, he started fucking her in earnest.

He was pounding her relentlessly, in a hard and frenzied beat erasing all resistance. Not that Azula offered much in the line of that. She was trembling underneath him, crying out in helpless pleasure, her cunt spasming uncontrollably around him and weeping hot juices. When her moans threatened to get loud enough to wake all kinds of sleeping beasts in the forest surrounding them, he silenced her with greedy kisses, pushing his long tongue into her mouth. Her moist silken cunt was getting increasingly hotter, yielding completely to his hard relentless thrusts, yet clutching him as tightly as a glove, pulsing and pulling him ever further in. Noticing it almost made him lose control and come right then and there.

Instead, he reined it in with difficulty and focused on pounding her in a fast furious rhythm. Lost in the frenzied barrage of thrusts from his impossibly engorged cock, Azula screamed out loud into his mouth and came, climaxing violently, twisting underneath him. He could sense glittering red wings of internal fire raging inside her, threatening to pull him with her over the edge. Instead, he just kept going, ploughing her like a jackhammer, ever faster, ever harder, in a kind of mad passionate frenzy. She twisted and shook underneath him, coming again, her cunt sprinkling him with a shower of hot moisture. She was moaning and panting, twisting her head from side to side, gasping his name.

"Sokka… Sokka… What are you doing to me… You fucking beast… Oh, I fucking love it… I fucking love your cock… I fucking love you… Ah, don't ever stop…"

Fired on, he kept going, fucking her in a frenzied pace, consumed by a passion that he'd fought too long to contain. She was crying out beneath him, helplessly lost in a string of orgasms, penetrated to the core, unable to escape. Overwhelmed by a cloud of hot blood red lust, Sokka marked her slender throat with his teeth, biting it and pounding her sweet defenceless cunt as hard and fast as he could. As he sensed her complete surrender and response to him, the fire spread from her to take hold of him, catching him on its hot glittering red wings of pleasure and release. Like a bird of prey, he took flight with her in his arms, coming in a surge of violent spasms and filling her with his white-hot seed. She was crying out, spasming and clutching his cock with her internal muscles, squeezing every drop of semen out of him. He gasped and almost passed out with the intensity of the experience. It was all he could manage to roll over on his back with Azula in his arms on top of him, still penetrated by his cock. The whole Universe was whizzing crazily past his inner eye. Still, she kept him safely anchored inside her.

They lay entwined like that for a long time, feeling their heartbeats settling down gradually. Azula's face was buried in Sokka's neck. In spite of her wrists being tied together, she'd managed to slide her arms down to embrace his shoulders. She seemed quite comfortable lying next to him, her rapid heartbeat slowly normalizing in a rhythm that echoed his own. One of his big hands was tangled in her thick black hair, while the other squeezed her small, firmly rounded buttocks fondly. As the balmy night air dried the sweat on their bodies, he nuzzled her ear contentedly. And then, he was seized by uncontrollable laughter.

Azula started and raised her head. "What? What's so damn funny?"

Sokka rubbed her buttocks fondly. "I was just thinking, what if everyone could see us now? I mean, not just Zuko." A wry grin spread over his face.

Azula started giggling. "What about Katara? Or Mother?"

"Both would be horribly shocked. Katara might attempt to bend me into a block of ice to prevent any further misdemeanours. I think your mother's much too scared of you to dare to intervene. Your father might be another matter though."

Azula blanched slightly. Then she burst out laughing. "Yeah, he'd definitely attempt to castrate you for the transgression. Funnily enough, this might be the one thing to make him and Zuzu reconcile. But what about Suki? Or Ty Lee? I've a feeling that none of them would be as easily appeased."

Sokka laughed out loud. "Yeah. They'd probably join forces and come after me. Or you, whomever they'd encounter first. We'd have to make a joint stand. But what if your Uncle Iroh accidentally stepped into the clearing of these woods right now? Or Aang?"

Azula chuckled wickedly in his arms. "They'd probably offer some Words of Wisdom. Something along the lines of 'Beware of an excess of indulgence in pleasure. It might create a constant need.'"

Sokka stared down into her face, pushing long black tresses away. "Yes. It might indeed."

Azula met his earnest blue stare. For a brief moment, the golden fire hit him like molten heat. Then, she closed her eyes and looked away. Still, she remained pressed against him, limbs entwined with his. Frowning, Sokka disentangled his head from the circle of her arms and began untying her wrists for the second time around. Sitting up, she wiped herself off on the blanket and started searching for her clothes. Locating his own ones, he regarded her, a sudden anxious pounding in his chest.

Ok. He'd made his decision.

She'd dressed and combed the tangles out of her long hair. Now, she was twisting it into her signature topknot with somewhat trembling hands. There was a largish purple lovebite on the left side of her neck.

Leaving his own hair down, Sokka approached her. A tentative hand on her bare arm made her recoil as if he'd burned her.

"Azula, I… I mean, it's ok. If you want to leave, I won't try to stop you. You're free to go. I'll just tell Zuko that I caught you, but you broke away from me. He knows the strength of your bending. He'll believe me."

The golden eyes burned into his again. "You won't come chasing after me? Why…" she turned around, muffling the words.

"…that's a pity."

Sokka moved up behind her, reaching out with a tentative hand. Had he really heard her correctly?

"You want me to come after you, Azula? Well, I'm right here, right now. I just thought that you wanted to be free. So, I'm letting you go."

She was going through her belongings, checking efficiently that he hadn't managed to loose anything on the way.

"Don't be foolish, Sokka. I could have gotten out of those ropes in a flash. Didn't you see what I did to the ones that tied my legs?"

His eyes widened in shock. "You…. You mean you stayed on voluntarily? You actually want to return to the Fire Nation?"

Azula turned to face him, arms akimbo. "You're a real fool, do you know that Sokka?"

He blushed. "Yeah, well people keep telling me that. Katara in particular."

Her glare slapped his cheek. "I'll deal with your sister in due time, believe me! She'll get what's coming to her. But no, I don't fucking want to return to the Fire Nation! At least not to Court, to play second fiddle to Zuzu. I just…."

Her voice trailed off. Suddenly, there was a lost look on her face.

 _Oh. But it couldn't be, could it?_

Sokka had always been a foolhardy. The simple reason was that he always had to know. Reaching out, he caught her upper arms and spun her around to face him.

"Azula? Do you mean you… Do you mean you want to stay with me? Because if you do, I…" He made as if to pull her into his embrace and kiss her.

She stopped him with two hands splayed out forcibly against his chest.

"Wait. How much cash did Zuzu give you for expenses?"

"800 000 bao. He promised that if I needed more funds, they would be available." Wild hope ignited in his chest.

A wry grin spread slowly over Azula's features. A bright light went on in her large yellow eyes. Moving in close to Sokka, she slid her hands up over his shoulders.

"Well then. If you really think you can put up with me, snow savage, I guess I'll tag along willingly. There are some pretty decent inns here in the Earth Kingdom. Who knows? If you're lucky, I might even let you tie me to the bedposts tonight. Provided that the bed's decent enough."

Sokka embraced her, crushing her to his chest. His heart was racing with arousal. "Princess, I believe we've struck a deal."


End file.
